COLUMBUS, Georgia -- When Gus Malzahn was first hired at Auburn, he told the team, fans and media that he had one goal.

Bring the Tigers back to a championship level.

Few had Malzahn accomplishing that goal in his first year, but the Tigers' 2013 run did just that, putting an SEC Championship trophy in the case and coming within 13 seconds of adding a national championship.

For Malzahn, the task has already changed.

"Our program is back established where it should be," Malzahn said before speaking to the Georgia Minority Coaches Association on Friday night. "Now we've got to be consistent. We've got to keep it there, year in and year out."

Auburn will likely be a preseason top-five team heading into the 2014 season, bringing a completely different kind of pressure than the kind the Tigers faced during the offseason last year.

At this time a year ago, the Tigers were trying to put a terrible 2012 in the rearview mirror.

Malzahn's task this year is arguably just as difficult. Now that the Tigers are back among college football's elite, his job is to clear that final hurdle, the 13 seconds that have been on his mind ever since Auburn left Pasadena.

"As a coach, as soon as that last game's over, your mind starts thinking about the next year," Malzahn said. "How can we improve?"

Instead of a thorough evaluation, Auburn's coaching staff is building off of a season's worth of information on its roster and trying to replicate the razor-sharp edge the Tigers had at the end of last season.

"It's completely different from the standpoint that we know a lot about our kids, our kids know a lot about us, our staff, we've been together for over a year now," Malzahn said. "It's been very smooth, and we can't wait for the spring to get started."